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Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

For those not interested in Lieberman, right wing judicial activism and tasteless humor, here is an Open Thread.

This is an Open Thread.

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    Calfiornia went bankrupt right on (none / 0) (#1)
    by SOS on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 04:51:38 PM EST
    schedule today I see. Great job Arnold.

    dont blame (none / 0) (#3)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 04:53:31 PM EST
    Arnold.  hes not responsible for all those propositions.

    Parent
    Arnold became governor (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by dk on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:03:34 PM EST
    due to what was basically one of those propositions (namely, the recall of Gray Davis).

    He's not blameless.

    Parent

    ok (none / 0) (#6)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:04:53 PM EST
    hes not blameless but it hardly all his fault.


    Parent
    That's (none / 0) (#9)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:18:41 PM EST
    1/6th of our economy isnt it? No economic good news will be forthcoming anytime soon I guess.

    Parent
    California's budget problems are a (2.00 / 0) (#10)
    by Slado on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:27:58 PM EST
    direct result of out of control spending by Arnold, the democrats and the republicans.

    While I wish Arnonld wasn't at fault he's largely to blame for not only not stoppig spending but falling sucker to the global warming green job con that is overtaking our federal government as well.

    A look into the future is a look at the sorry state of California.

    Parent

    Ronald Reaguns Fault (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by squeaky on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:30:25 PM EST
    The rest of us will feel it, CA was just the first because that is where ROnnie started the fire.

    Parent
    global warming green job con... (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by of1000Kings on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:52:44 PM EST
    lol...

    don't know what else to say...

    except keep feeding us coal, it's awesome for us and the earth...

    Parent

    I'm not going to debate AGW (none / 0) (#15)
    by Slado on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 08:10:28 PM EST
    because it's a waste of time.  I might as well argue about the existence of God with a Christian.

    For the sake of arguement we except that AGW exists then the policies being put forth (mainly cap and trade) and this sham of a climate bill in the House won't solve the "problem".

    CA is a perfect example of good progressive intentions gone bad.  Maybe Obama can pull it off but the template is there in CA and in Europe to pass these governmnet programs and not get anything in return for the wasted tax dollars.

    Europe didn't even cut CO2 as much as Bush did and CA hasn't cut it one iota and they've got plenty of lost jobs to show for it.

    Parent

    well, that's more of a problem with the people (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by of1000Kings on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 05:08:02 AM EST
    making the regulations, rather than whether or not regulations are needed...

    and as much as I hate hearing repukicans calling this a 'tax' I can still see the problems with the bill, but again that's on the legislators, not the science...

    most christians believe this world will not matter for long anyway, so that's why the science doesn't matter...no foresight as general from christians and repukicans on this matter...

    what is there to hate about renewable energy?  oh yeah, the executives would have to downgrade from the $200M yacht to a $90M yacht...I forgot...

    Parent

    Those same evil executives (none / 0) (#31)
    by Slado on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 02:19:52 PM EST
    would put a windmill in every back yard if they thought they could make a buck.

    Unfortunately there is no buck to be made in alternative energy yet because we sit on huge supplies of coal, natural gas and oil sand right here in the usofa.  

    Nevermind how cheaply we could produce electricity if the gov't let us build nuclear plants instead of windmills and solar panels.

    The technology does not match the fantasy and we have plenty of non "green" ways to get energy independent so lets cut the crap.

    This is about governmetn controlling the way energy is produced and a way for the government to collect tax revenue to pay for all the other things they can't afford right now.

    There won't be one gram of CO2 saved by this bill passing.

    Parent

    Doesn't CA's political system (none / 0) (#17)
    by BackFromOhio on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 09:19:44 PM EST
    have a substantial role in the mess there? I.e., because it takes, I think, 2/3 vote of legislature to pass certain bills -- I think spending and taxing (but not sure) -- nothing even mildly controversial can get done.  So there's lots of wealth to tap among CA residents, but the political system keeps getting in the way.  

    Parent
    Proposition 13 and an (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by kenosharick on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 09:36:30 PM EST
    insane ballot inititive system are the roots of California's mess.

    Parent
    Is today thursday? (none / 0) (#2)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 04:52:43 PM EST


    Ha! I woke up this morning thinking it (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by Anne on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:50:36 PM EST
    was Thursday, thinking about how the office is closing early, and then we're closed on Friday, and then...I realized it was only Wednesday...

    Why are these 4-day weeks so interminably long?

    Parent

    Wishful thinking (none / 0) (#4)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:00:36 PM EST
    Damn. n/t (none / 0) (#8)
    by Jen M on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:11:45 PM EST
    its (none / 0) (#7)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:05:06 PM EST
    friday for me

    Parent
    is this (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 07:29:25 PM EST
    economy scaring anybody else? I'm terrified taht something will happen and my husband will lose his job and we'll be on the street. Sometimes I think that I should be stockpiling food when I get extra money. It was just announced that app another 500,000 jobs were lost last month. A friend of mine is predicting another huge collapse in Sept/Oct like we had last fall.

    There are more shoes to drop unfortunately (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Slado on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 08:13:12 PM EST
    There is another gaggle  of bad home mortgages out there even worse then sub prime and the commercial market is ready to collapse as well.

    That will result in a more bailouts, more pringting of money, more deficits, on and on

    You're right to be worried.

    Parent

    It's scary... (none / 0) (#25)
    by kdog on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:18:19 AM EST
    but I'm not scared...though I've got a Chef Boyardee cache just in case:)

    I'll get scared when there is a shortage of food...a shortage of jobs, though a serious problem, ain't enough to scare me.  I'm fairly confident there will always be somebody with a task that needs doing that they'd rather pay somebody to do than do it themselves...ya can always count on American laziness:)  If push comes to shove, and you don't mind doing the dirty jobs, you'll be all right.  And if push really comes to shove, "I don't mind stealing bread from the mouth of decadence".

    Parent

    I dont (none / 0) (#26)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:22:47 AM EST
    mind doing the dirty jobs. the problem is that they dont pay enough for me to keep my house and I'd still be on the street.

    Parent
    I hear ya... (none / 0) (#27)
    by kdog on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:41:53 AM EST
    I've got less to stress since I don't have a mortgage...if I can't make the rent on my place I can always find a cheaper crib...or squat someplace, alotta vacant cribs around the way.

    I hope you ride out this storm GA...got room to take on a renter?  Got enough equity in the place to be able to sell without losing money, god forbid it came to that?

    Getting by is a b*tch sometimes..but when I get to feeling sorry for myself I think of all the people in the world living in shantys and remember I still got it pretty damn good...keep your chin up and take it as it comes....believe in yourself and you'll make it one way or the other.

    Parent

    yeah, (none / 0) (#29)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 10:06:43 AM EST
    it's a renter's paradise in the area i'm in right now. You can name your price.

    No, we dont have enough equity. The house across the street went into foreclosure, was bought by an investor and just sold for $40,000 less than we paid for our house 6 years ago. It makes me extremely angry that the banks are willing to write off the losses from irresponsible people and their irresponsible decisions but people like us get left holding the bag. We would simply have to walk away if my husband lost his job and let the house go into foreclosure. We dont have thousands of dollars to bring to a closing.

    Thanks for the kind words. This economy is putting me in a foul mood everyday. It seems that more and more people i know are losing their jobs and then we all are getting into this downward spiral mindset. It's probably not a good thing but hard to stop.

    Parent

    Warnings on two anti-smoking drugs (none / 0) (#19)
    by nycstray on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 10:37:46 PM EST
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Wednesday ordered Pfizer Inc and GlaxoSmithKline PLC to add strong "black box" warnings on their anti-smoking drugs to highlight the risk of serious mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts.

    The warnings, which must be added to Pfizer's Chantix and Glaxo's Zyban, follow more than five thousand reports of depression, hostility and other behavioral changes, the Food and Drug Administration said.

    FDA officials said there was still a need for the medications, their concerns tempered by smoking's health dangers, such as lung cancer and heart disease.

    Link

    Other "side effects" on Chantix from a FDA report in early June:

    Angioedema, serious skin reactions, visual impairment, accidental injury

    Link I'm not on my main computer, so I can't access my links, but when this report came out and was reported on, the visual impairment didn't sound like a small deal. Of course, my eyes are very important to me . . .

    Those drugs are anti-depressants (none / 0) (#24)
    by Inspector Gadget on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 08:48:00 AM EST
    It was a fluke that they discovered the people taking them (who also smoked) were discovering their cravings for cigarettes diminished dramatically. Glaxo was the first with Zyban, and they were delighted. The FDA approved it for smoking cessassion just as the patent was going to expire for the anti-depressant purpose. They were able to get it re-patented and start the clock all over again before they had to make the formula available to generic labels.

    The side-effects are normal for most anti-depressants. Surprised the FDA didn't demand those warnings at the onset.

    Parent

    Thanks for the info! (none / 0) (#30)
    by nycstray on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 11:21:09 AM EST
    These days when I hear commercials for some products and they are championing FDA approval, I just cringe. I'm hoping we at least get a more "robust" FDA out of this admin . . .  

    Parent
    Bill Lockyer, CA State Treasuer, (none / 0) (#20)
    by oculus on Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 11:44:03 PM EST
    shares his proposed solution to budget crisis:

    LAT

    But, Gov. previously declared we don't need no stinkin' mediator.


    What? (none / 0) (#23)
    by lilburro on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 08:29:48 AM EST
    "We'll have the budget for the coast that has tax increases and services," Lockyer said in a wide-ranging interview with The Times' Sacramento bureau. "And in a bunch of other areas in Central and Southern California that don't have tax increases ... their public schools are closed a month of the year - and see what happens."

    I just don't understand...this sounds like something I would hear in an 8th grade classroom.

    Parent

    Mr Lockyer tends to exaggerate. (none / 0) (#28)
    by oculus on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:56:46 AM EST
    Toyota not perfect after all (none / 0) (#22)
    by jbindc on Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 07:46:10 AM EST
    Link

    Could Toyota Motor Corp. be mortal after all?

    For the third month in a row, Ford Motor Co. outsold the Japanese juggernaut in the United States, still a crucial and rich market amid this nagging recession. In June alone, the Dearborn automaker reported an 11 percent year-over-year decline in monthly sales to 148,153 cars and trucks, compared to Toyota's 34.6 percent slide to 131,654 vehicles.
    And this: General Motors Corp. -- beleaguered and bankrupt, its dealer body jittery and brand image suspect, its only willing lender the Treasury -- so far this year has outsold Toyota 947,518 to 770,449, according to Autodata Corp. Partly evidence of Toyota's strong presence in, and dependence on, the imploding California market?

    Yes, but what else?

    For the first three months of the year, Toyota lost more money than Ford and even GM. Since then, the Japanese automaker has replaced its president with a scion of the founding family, 53-year-old Akio Toyoda, who promises a "back to basics" push for the industry's richest automaker even as more troubles emerged in the first weeks of his new assignment.

    SNIP

    News flash: Detroit's automakers are not the only "arrogant" players in the global auto game to place big product-and-plant bets at the wrong time, even if they clearly have a lot less financial capacity to absorb their bad calls. Nor are GM, Ford and Chrysler Group LLC the only ones to get themselves cross-ways, in theory, with politicians busy reshaping the American economy to their image.

    This is ObamaNation in the Great Recession, where many routine business decisions have acute political implications. The stunning collapse of U.S. auto sales and the slow climb back is remaking the auto industry, even pressuring the most rich and powerful to change.

    In Toyota's case, that means battling the "big company" disease foreseen by retired CEO Fujio Cho and contending with leaner American rivals, two of them backed by the federal government.

    Rich Toyota (very rich, with roughly $33 billion in cash on hand) will be forced to consider the political ramifications -- particularly among the powerful California delegation -- of its decisions and Washington's tactics to "save" Detroit and the United Auto Workers.

    None of which is to suggest that Toyota is going anywhere because it's not. It's rich. It's smart. It's proven itself to be far more adept than its Detroit rivals at delivering solid products with mass appeal, working the corridors of power in today's Washington and making strategic manufacturing investments in non-auto states to turn them into Toyota states.

    And the fact that it's the acknowledged leader in the politically required greening of the U.S. auto industry probably trumps the fact that it runs no union shops in its assembly and parts plants in the United States -- with the exception of the NUMMI plant in Fremont.